 Helena Rubinstein WantedSmell Expensive for Less with these 6 PerfumesNatori by Josie NatoriNorth-American Originals: Perfumers on Fall & Winter 3North-American Originals: Perfumers on Fall & Winter 2North-American Originals: Perfumers on Fall & WinterMy 2009 Halloween Shopping ListMarilyn Miglin Fo-Ti-TiengThe Body Shop Love Etc.Fall Fragrances: Cornucopia of Dark FruitsL'Occitane Labdanum de Séville, Mimosa de l'EstérelRobert Piguet FuturKate Moss VintageFrapin L'HumanistePatriotic Bestseller Perfumes: DiscussFaguenat, Faganat...Fug?Sniffing Rich Orientals in ParisL'Artisan Parfumeur Havana Vanille Dolce & Gabbana Rose The OneGuerlain Idylle - Part 1Guerlain Idylle - Part 2Kat Von D Saint & SinnerCalvin Klein CK Free for MenMariah Carey ForeverWienerBlut KlubwasserPrada L'Eau AmbréeSerge Lutens Fille en AiguillesBritney Spears Circus FantasyYves Saint Laurent ParisienneIdole d'ArmaniGuerlain Aqua Allegoria Tiaré-Blossom, Cherry BlossomHermès Eau d'Orange Verte, Eau de Pamplemousse Rose, Eau de Gentiane BlancheParfums de Nicolaï Weekend à DeauvilleSerge Lutens Fourreau NoirEssential FaithPenhaligon's Anthology: Eau de Verveine, Extract of Limes, Gardenia, Night Scented StockMac Naked Honey & AfricanimalChopard CascadeLancôme Hypnôse SensesJuliette Has a Gun Midnight OudNarciso Rodriguez EssenceQueen Latifah QueenBenefit Laugh With Me LeeLee, There's Something About Sofia, My Place Or Yours GinaThe Body Shop White Musk White Hot SummerRochas Eau SensuelleL'Artisan Parfumeur Côte d'AmourChloe Eau de ParfumGuerlain Les Fleurs du Guildo: An Early 19th Century Precursor of Marine ScentsLush VanillaryByredo Bal d'AfriqueZadig & Voltaire Tome 1 La Pureté - Part 1Zadig & Voltaire Tome 1 La Pureté - Part 2Guerlain MuguetGuerlain Muguet (en français)Spring Notes: Lily of the Valley & DiorChanel Cristalle Eau VerteChristian Dior Escale à PondichéryFrédéric Malle Géranium pour MonsieurGobin-Daudé Sous Le BuisRoger et Gallet Bois d'OrangeMontale Patchouli LeavesStetson All AmericanStephen Jones by Comme des GarçonsGivenchy Harvest 2008: Ange ou Démon Jasmin Sambac, Amarige Ylang Ylang, Very Irresistible Rose Damascena, Organza Fleur d'OrangerYves Saint Laurent La Nuit de l'HommeYves Saint Laurent l'HommeThe Sex Factor in Men's FragrancesNina Ricci Love by NinaHermès Kelly Calèche EDPAnnick Goutal Un Matin d'OrageGuerlain La Petite Robe NoireSerge Lutens Nuit de CellophaneParfums MDCI Péché CardinalHermès Vanille Galante - Part 1Hermès Vanille Galante - Part 2
|
 In an interview given to an Italian publication, perfumer Maurice Roucel of Symrise compares the art of perfume composition to the art of writing. He underlines the differences between the technical aspect of perfumery and the more intuitive, creative one. The act of creation remains somewhat magical, mysterious. He confides that like all the other perfumers he is looking for the blue note of jazz in perfume, the perfect note, but that at the same time his primary motivation remains to bring something positive to the lives of perfume-wearers. A perfume to which he is particularly attached he reveals and calls unforgettable was one worn by his grand-mother called Le Ciel de Paris. When his grand-mother finished the perfume bottle he added water so that the scent could come to life again. How lovely is that! Read more in I Profumi? Crearli è un'arte come scrivere...
 For those who can read French (you can also try using Babelfish or Google Translate to get the gist of the online articles) there is an informative report on the state of the perfume industry in Grasse in L'Express.fr. There is apparently a move to put Grasse more firmly on the national and international perfume-industry map and a push to encourage its members to become more politically involved and learn to lobby more aggressively. Dossier: Les défis de l'industrie du parfum à Grasse
 There is an article well-worth reading in the December issue of Perfumer & Flavorist. Written by Stephen Douthwaite of PerfumersWorld, it makes the point that even professionals in the industry do not necessarily possess the right techniques or work in the right conditions to smell perfumes and flavors. The piece then proceeds to present a number of technical and methodological approaches. Here is a particularly eloquent passage to pinpoint one aspect of the problem, "...please take a moment to consider this question: "Where is the worse place to smell a perfume compound sample? Places that likely come to mind include kitchens, bathrooms, coffee shops and smoking rooms. Few people would cite the truly worst place, the place where most professional perfumers actually do their initial smelling evaluation of samples -- the odorotheque, the perfumery laboratory. There may be hundreds of perfumery materials lining the shelves in these spaces, all of them emanating tiny amounts of odorous molecules. Trying to smell analytically in such an atmosphere would be like trying to listen to Eric Satie's "Gymnopes" piano piece on a noisy playground. Yes, it's possible to do so, but not truly conductive to getting the most from the music."
Continue reading "Using the Brain (Not The Nose) To Smell by Stephen Douthwaite {Fragrant Reading}" »
 A new book aiming to shed further light on the contribution of French luxury brands to the national patrimony and economy was released in October 2009. The work features 135 brands. The study is entitled Marques de luxes françaises (French Luxury Brands) by author Jean Watin-Augouard, 354 p, Eyrolles. Watin-Augouard is a specialist of the history of brands. The book can be seen as both an update of his last publication Histoires de marques (2006) as well as a closer look taken at the field of luxury...
Continue reading "New Book on French Luxury Brands: Marques de Luxe Francaises by Jean Watin-Augouard {Fragrant Reading}" »
 Well, apparently, Versailles is not dead. I just read an article in the Times Online about an advice book entitled Le carnet du savoir-vivre au bureau by author Laurence Caracalla and it appears to be replete with self-punishing advice on how to look better, more the part and make the most expected, conformist and correct impressions on people. It perpetuates tangibly the Versailles courtisan ideal in which submission to the strictest rules of conduct and appearance are dictated by (whom?) and accepted in the hope that they will contribute to your advancement in society. What a nightmare! Plus it does not make sense. The pronouncements on how French women look immaculate at 7 pm is simply not true. There is a whole trend of French négligé charm that is very common even in the most elegant neighborhoods. In fact I worry less about my hair in France than in the US because, you know, even Carine Roitfield, the editor in chief of Vogue looks like she just rolled out of her bed hair-wise. It's called (in my mind) intellectual hair! By the way, doesn't Caracalla on this picture have the typical intellectual hair?...
Continue reading "New French Book of Manners Perpetuates Courtly Ideals {Fragrant & Beauty Reading}" »
 There are not many perfumes in the world that can pretend to having a monograph dedicated to their sole trajectory but Chanel No. 5 is preeminently it. Author François Ternon has written Histoire du No.5 de Chanel: un numéro intemporel (A History of Chanel No. 5: a timeless number), Les Editions Normant, 224 p, Nantes. He is a former typographer and nurse who did a master's thesis on the perfume which is the world's #1 bestseller. He became a member of the Société Française des Parfumeurs based on this research and has now published a book relating the history of the perfume incorporating new materials...
Continue reading "New Book on Chanel No.5 {Fragrant Readings}" »
 Pamela Anderson and David La Chapelle at the 6th Annual Hollywood Style Awards -- Doesn't this dress look a little complicated yet almost made as if in desperation at the last minute? Is this a conceptual dress meant to express feminine angst prior to dressing up?
Pamela Anderson definitely has personal ideas about perfume. You have to hand it to her that she is not just a shallow sounding board for other people's ideas and that she does not let advisers dictate her tastes. About her upcoming Malibu scents, she said that her favorite notes are sandalwood, amber and patchouli and this is not knowledge based on recent meetings with fragrance developers, but gathered through her own familiarity with perfume since high-school. Also, did she say that her new perfume is a veritable ambrosia offered to Poseidon off the coast of California the gods of Malibu? Er, no, she says that it is "unlike a perfume" and that it "isn't too sophisticated..." "It's fresh, but chic, inexpensive, available in drugstores! I love that the most--I worship drugstores, it's hard to get me out.
Read more in Allure...
 The founder of perfume brand By Kilian, Kilian Hennessy, is heading to Boston next week and answers a Q & A on the Boston Herald blog, The Edge, in the days leading up to the local launch of his line. What does he think of celebrity perfumes? "They have knowledge of how to create a suit, yes. A perfume? No,"
he said, speaking via telephone from his Paris office this week.
Mmm, not to sound snarky, but last time I checked celebrity perfumes were still created by perfumers not by some crazy celebs thinking they knew how to blend an Eh, voilà! perfume.
He, on the other hand, does not think he knows everything about perfumery and describes himself as an avid student of the subject,
"Hennessy described his passion for perfume as a calling, saying, "I
don't think I've slept much. I've been a like a drug addict working on
scent. I was so hungry to learn."
Read more...
 There have been already several books written about the life of perfume industry giant and genius François Coty but author Alain Duménil who is visibly fascinated by the trajectories of men that climb up very high in the social sphere to fall very hard in the end (he previously signed a biography of Nicolas Fouquet) decided to turn his attention to the "emperor of Artigny", another man guilty of hubris. About François Coty, director Jean-Pierre Melville once said upon visiting his castle of Artigny that this is when you realized that Citizen Kane was not born American. Parfum d'Empire: la vie extraordinaire de François Coty, 247 p., Plon, was published in May of 2009. Available on Amazon.com for €18,91.
 Jacqueline Kennedy at JFK funeral by Andy Warhol
Perfumer Francis Kurkdjian whose work you might know through Le Male, Fleur du Male, Classique, or Gaultier2 by Jean Paul Gaultier, when asked about the relationship between cuisine and perfume and his conception of luxury put the stress on the role of emotion. He just opened his own house, Maison Francis Kurkdjian, in which he has started applying his personal ideas about perfume. Perfumes
goes beyond being a beautiful crystal object that smells good.
Perfume is only a matter of emotions: there isn't one that is better
than the other and it is not because an aroma is included in a cheaply priced
product that it is bad. Like for art, one can be touched by a canvas
without it necessarily bearing the signature of Francis Bacon.
Everything is perfumed in our environments, but this accumulation must be relevant. It therefore requires an approach that is more transverse.
To take up the challenge of entering the universe of perfumes as one
would the world of interior decoration, with a large collection, and to
turn perfume into an art of living which touches both the intimate and
the universal, this is precisely my idea of luxury.
Et quelle est-elle ? [à propos de son idée du luxe]
Le parfum va au-delà d'un bel objet en cristal qui sent bon. Le parfum
n'est qu'une question d'émotions : il n'y en a pas un meilleur que
l'autre, et ce n'est pas parce qu'une odeur est incluse dans un produit
qui ne coûte pas cher qu'elle est mauvaise. Comme pour l'art, on peut
être touché par une toile sans qu'elle soit forcément signée Francis
Bacon. Tout est parfumé dans nos environnements, mais cette
accumulation doit être pertinente. Elle exige donc une approche plus
transversale. Faire le pari de rentrer dans l'univers du parfum comme
dans celui de la décoration intérieure, avec une collection étendue,
faire du parfum un art de vivre qui touche l'intime comme l'universel,
voilà mon idée du luxe....
Continue reading "Interview with Perfumer Francis Kurkdjian: 2 Scented Quotes of the Day on Perfume and Emotion" »
 Author Annick Le Guerer has published a new book on the therapeutic tradition of perfume entitled Quand le parfum portait remède: jardins des cloîtres, jardins des princes, Garde-Temps Editions, 95 p, Septembre 2009. (When perfume used to cure: cloister gardens and princely gardens). Judging from the title, the topic of the book focuses on the gardens that were cultivated by monasteries and aristocratic courts to derive medicinal benefits from their plants. There is however, it seems, an emphasis on aromatherapy given the specialty of the author. The book is scented either thanks to a scratch-and-sniff technology or to samples (I am trying to get further details). The fragrances were created by perfumers Daniela Andrier (Givaudan) and Dominique Ropion (IFF)...
Continue reading "Annick Le Guerer Quand le Parfum Portait Remede: Jardins des Cloitres, Jardins des Princes {Fragrant Readings - New Book} " »
 For those who can get hold of Paris Capitale, the magazine about Paris (which includes a bilingual address guide section handy for visitors) there are two articles on perfumes this month. Serge Lutens is interviewed (p.60) about his tastes in teas and the way he likes to include this note in perfumery. It is part of a feature on drinking tea in Paris. He says that he sometimes likes to add a tea nuance to his fragrances like in Mandarine-Mandarin with its Lapsang-Souchong note, but that it is never a central part of a perfume...
Continue reading "Paris Capitale September Issue Perfume Articles {Fragrant Readings}" »
A small enterprise named His Witness Scents in Athens, Tennessee is attempting to put some virtue back into perfume naming and fragrance appreciation. After noticing that too many fragrances seem to advertise inappropriate conduct and bad-mouth their wearers, two women decide to take issue with this laissez-faire attitude by proposing perfumes named after verses of the Bible such as Above Rubies, a reference to Proverbs 31:10 ("Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies") and praying on the scents. A His-Witness-Scents offering might smell of Psalms 45:8: "All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad."...
Continue reading "His Witness Scents Reflect Christian Values" »
 An article in Special Chem explains the ins and outs of Givaudan's action in the field of sustainable sourcing of naturals as the global demand for eco-conscious, natural perfumes and flavors augment. "The growing demand for natural ingredients is at odds with
the ability of producers to supply raw materials in a sustainable way." [...]...
Continue reading "Givaudan Innovative Naturals Programme: Sandalwood, Tonka Bean, Benzoin Explained {Fragrant Reading}" »
 A questionnaire on personal shopping habits and quirks was put to Etienne de Swardt founder of Etat Libre d'Orange, an alternative fragrance label based in Paris. Here are his rather revealing answers. For your reassurance and in reference to answer no.3 below the perfumes de Swardt sells are all located in the front of his store...
Continue reading "Shopping Q & A with Etienne de Swardt of Etat Libre d'Orange {Fragrant Reading}" »
 Picture courtesy of the MET. Wedding casket (1500-1530) from Ferrara or Venice decorated with pastiglia made of "musk paste", a mixture of white lead paste, binding egg white and scented musk. "The scent was thought to have aphrodisiacal properties, which added to the casket's value as a marriage gift." ( Note: this picture is not from the book.) A new cultural history of perfume will appear in October 2009 in English entitled Earthly Scents - Heavenly Pleasures: A Cultural History of Scents by Dr. Günther Ohloff. The author has also previously published a book in German consecrated to perfume called Düfte: Signale der Gefühlswelt (Perfumes: Signs of the World of Sensations). The new book covers the periods ranging from the antiquity to the end of the pre-modern period offering a glimpse into the emergence of the modern era through a study on the Eau de Cologne...
Continue reading "Earthly Scents - Heavenly Pleasures: A Cultural History of Scents by Günther Ohloff: New Book {Fragrance News} {Fragrant Reading} " »
 An interesting article about non-verbal cues and in particular olfactory ones exchanged in Latino interactions according to a dad and marketing specialist who relates his personal observations. Sometimes smell counts more than the functionality of a cleaning product like Fabuloso because much more importantly the scent is used to convey a set of meanings to members of the family and community. What Ricardo A Lopez. doesn't say here but which transpires from his notes is that the olfactory onus is very much on women and seems to be part of general machismo values: proving repeatedly through certain perfumes that as a good mother and wife you are taking good care of your baby, of your family....
Continue reading "Non-Verbal Olfactory Communication in Latino Culture {Fragrant Reading}" »
 Natural and organic beauty brand Doux Me has an interview with Le Labo fragrances co-founder Fabrice Penot on their green page this month. How green is Fabrice Penot in his personal life and business practices?...
Continue reading "Le Labo Interview by Doux Me: How Green is Fabrice Penot? & The New 20% Off Recycling Program {Fragrant Reading} {Shopping Tip}" »
 Wallpaper has quite the comprehensive interview with perfumer Jean-Paul Guerlain and his successor Thierry Wasser. It is almost touching to see Wasser's sense of intelligent humility, faced with a historic treasury of knowledge and monument such as Jean-Paul Guerlain. There are many insights about the collaboration between the two men, and what one can interpret not just only as the continuation of the name of Guerlain but as the preservation of a national and international patrimony in perfumery. J-P Guerlain is dispensing "some" of his experience and knowledge, as he says so himself, but at the same time, it is not as straightforward as that and Wasser has to figure out a number of things by himself. An interesting possibility is evoked with the meeting of Thierry Wasser with Jean-Paul Guerlain's eldest grandson; apparently, it might not be impossible to see the heritage of the house go back to the guardianship of a Guerlain after it would have skipped a generation...
Continue reading "Interview with Jean-Paul Guerlain & Thierry Wasser in Wallpaper {Fragrant Reading}" »
Atmosphères has an article about Jacques Polge the in-house perfumer for Chanel this April, and what is less commonly done, his apartment, in their Deco section. A perfumer renowned for his discretion, he has nevertheless taken the risk to open the doors of his abode located on the left bank, "... in a Parisian arrondissement bearing the lucky number [Editor's note: 5]" as the magazine puts it...
Continue reading "Jacques Polge & His Apartment Featured in Atmospheres {Fragrant Reading}" »
 A new book on fragrance and press magnate François Coty entitled François Coty: Fragrance, Power, Money is out by authors Roulhac B. Toledano and Elizabeth Coty; the latter is the granddaughter-in-law of Coty and formerly the director of cosmetics and fragrance for Coty Inc. There have been several books on Coty but this one seems to be less of a coffee-table book and more in the vein of the historical study François Coty, un industriel corse sous la IIIème République by Ghislaine Siccard-Picchiottino....
Continue reading "Francois Coty: Fragrance, Power, Money (2009) {Fragrant Reading - New Book}" »
 The uncovered perfume bottle of Hatshepsut
The other day we posted about the archeological project under way of resurrecting Hatshepsut's perfume, a 3,500 vintage whose only dessicated remains still exist. Is it more dream or reality, you decide. I somehow feel that nothing really new is going to come out of this venture, like an unknown ingredient in the palette of perfumes of the Ancient Egyptians. Somehow, I imagine the perfume of a pharaoh to be quite codified especially in a funerary context, but maybe there was more room for individuality than we assume...  The dried remains of the very ancient perfume
Continue reading "Hatshepsut's Perfume - Part 2 {Fragrant Reading}" »
 Guerlain's artistic director Sylvaine Delacourte has had a blog running for a little over a year now. It is not an official blog for the brand per se, but rather both a personal and professional blog about her experiences at Guerlain and in the world of fragrances (and flavors) more generally...
Continue reading "A Guerlain Insider's Blog: Esprit de Parfum by Sylvaine Delacourte {Fragrant Reading}" »
 The chief perfumer of Mäurer & Wirtz, Gerrit van Logchem, was recently interviewed by Coop. He is the person currently in charge for the curating of the antique Eau de Cologne 4711. Perfumery workshops are being organized by M & W and an ad campaign along the lines of an United Colors by Benetton is running on the site to give a fresher image to the eau de cologne. You can send e-postcards and download screensavers... 
Continue reading "Interview with Perfumer Gerrit van Logchem {Fragrant Reading}" »
 Francis Kurkdjian talks to The National, a newspaper from the United Arabian Emirates about his profession, fashion, his tastes in clothing, the new Ma Dame by Jean Paul Gaultier,.. "When you are training, it's as if perfume is a foreign language. You
have to go back to the basics and learn the alphabet: your ABCs become
jasmine, rose, mandarin, orange, cedarwood and all the chemicals behind
those. To make a fragrance is like building a story - you have to put
sentences one after another to make sense of your story. It's very
academic.
I'm not from a family of perfumers, and I don't play
gimmicks such as recognising scents - I would say my talent is in my
head. Noses are able to envision things that people don't smell yet.
It's like music: the composer has in his head sounds that don't yet
exist."
Read more in Perfumer has a nose for simple style...
 Perfumer François Demachy (see short biography & list of works) is more specifically attached to Dior as an in-house perfumer but in fact works as an olfactory artistic director for a number of prestigious perfume brands owned by the LVMH group (check bio). He is the subject of the latest interview by The Fragrance Foundation. "Have you ever persisted in implementing your own ideas at Dior...for a perfume you felt you absolutely had to create?
"Yes,
certain perfumes that are coming out soon, in fact, began with an idea
I came up with...
Continue reading "Dior Perfumer François Demachy Interviewed by The Fragrance Foundation - Fragrant Reading" »
 French luxury webzine Elle Adore Le Luxe (She Adores Luxury) has an interview with Serge Lutens dating from 2008 on the topic of luxury. Excerpts: " Luxury means being able to say...
What one thinks...
Continue reading "Serge Lutens Interview on Luxury + Video about Salons Shiseido {Fragrant Reading} " »
 Ha, ha, ha! Laughter guaranteed with this article by Dan H. Woods about an imagined parallelism between perfume-shopping and paint-shopping. He asks the "what-if" question. What if the paint SA behaved with you, the guy, like the perfume SA usually behaves with your wife?...
Continue reading "A Guy's Guide to Perfume Shopping {Fragrant Reading}" »
 George Dodd answers the fundamental question of how best to reproduce your genes on the occasion of upcoming Valentine's Day 2009. Yes, I know, not very romantic-sounding, but that's what it is all about really, at a certain level of biological reality. "On the evening of St Valentine's Day last year, I held the world's first sniff-dating event in the Dana Centre at the London Science Museum. Here are some top tips to help you sniff-out your perfect romantic partner... With smell dating, we are effectively sniffing-out complementary genes in our partners' immune system so that we can have healthy babies. Mating and having healthy babies is crucial to survival, and part of this concerns our sense of smell. Our personal portfolio of smell receptors will like the body odour of some partners more than others. Body odour is linked to human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes, a key part of the immune system that recognises self from non-self. Couples whose HLA-related body odour is too similar are more likely to have difficulties in conceiving. This is real biological perfumery - the mating instinct at the molecular aroma level." Read more in The Guardian... Upcoming Valentine's features on The Scented Salamander: To help you out on Valentine's Day, I will be posting about Perfumes That Smell Unique Because You Are Unique, and deserve nothing less than not to be betrayed by your perfume. If you don't feel unique, those will help you feel the part. That was an interesting exercise and was inspired to me by the proteian quality of Vanille Galante by Hermès. A contrario, I thought to myself, what are those perfumes that I always recognize on others and have such a strong signature, replete with olfactory integrity? You might be suprised by my choices and I will explain my selection. Watch also for my continuing series on musk perfumes. And in particular this time, I will be focusing on comparative reviews of MUSK OILS! I have been collecting a number of musk oils from all denominations for several months now and we will see what they have to offer!...
Continue reading "Best Advice for Valentine's Day: Sniff Your Partner {The 5th Sense in the News} - Valentine's Day Recap {Fragrant Readings}" »
 Travel editor and blog writer Catharine Hamm answers a reader's query about how best to counteract olfactory nuisance in closed quarters and planes in particular (you really can't step out to take a breather, can you). A major direction of thought in the article is to oppose the force to such obnoxious effluvia and the force in this case is the right mental attitude: think positive, think zen, think compassionate thoughts, it can help. "And no doubt about it: The mind does play an important role -- and in ways beyond our primitive reaction to odors.
"When we are stressed, we can overreact to smell, fueling our
irritability and getting into a negative loop -- 'How dare this person
do this to me!' " said Debbie Mandel, author of "Addicted to Stress."...
Continue reading "Scents on a Plane? Eau No! Or How To Prevent Aroma-Triggered Air Rage {Fragrant Reading}" »
 The CPC Packaging magazine have two features on perfume and beauty packaging explaining why these stood out from the hundreds of new launches in 2008. They look for innovation, however discreet, and technical challenges overcome by the design team rather than pure aesthetic beauty (cf. for example the 3121 packaging for Prince's scent). Here's their commentary on the 2008 Fifi Awards for perfume packaging, "Great minds think alike" is a saying that often rings true when it
comes to fragrance package design. Looking at the past year's fragrance
launches, it seems that some marketers were inspired by the same
trends. However, each trend was interpreted uniquely for each fragrance
bottle."...
Continue reading "Perfume Packaging Awards Commentary by CPC {Fragrant Reading} {Fragrance News}" »
 A new book dedicated to perfume objects called Objets du Parfum: confidences d'un collectionneur has been newly available since the end of November 2008 for those interested in the history of perfumery and the applied artistic manifestations it encourages. The collector alluded to in the title is Jean François Costa a member of the families that make up the Fragonard perfumery and an avid collector as well as fragrance industrialist...
Continue reading "Objets du Parfum (2008) {Fragrant Reading - New Book} {Fragrance News}" »
 The yearly edition of German perfume guide Parfums Edition by publishing house Ebner Verlag has launched its 2009 edition. This year, the guide is co-authored by Susanne Opalka teaming up with regular contributor Uschi Rollar...
Continue reading "Parfums Edition 2009 by Susanne Opalka & Uschi Rollar {Fragrant Reading - New Book}" »
 Like each year since 1984, author and arguably pillar of the fragrance industry Michael Edwards publishes a new augmented edition of Fragrances of the World, a compendium of the fragrances that are available in the international market in designer but also niche categories (since 1998) while also listing new flankers and limited-editions. Its comprehensive and cumulative character has earned it the nickname of the "Retail Bible" (of the perfume industry). For the 25th anniversary of Fragrances of the World, Michael Edwards is marking the jubilee with a special edition titled the Silver Anniversary Edition. According to the press release, " Fragrances
of the World 2009 classifies over 6,500 fragrances and adds more than 800 new
releases."... 
Continue reading "Fragrances of the World 2009 Silver Anniversary Edition {Fragrance News} {Fragrant Reading}" »
 Vanilla, which has been in the recent past showcased as a main source of inspiration for perfumes such as Tihota by Indult composed by perfumer Francis Kurkdjian and Spiritueuse Double Vanille by Guerlain created by Jean-Paul Guerlain, while being announced as a key note in the upcoming Vanille Galante by Hermès in the Hermessence series, a work by Jean-Claude Ellena, has visibly awoken the interests of some of the major perfumers of the day.
L'Express is devoting an article to this beloved, indispensable ingredient of perfumery in more or less high doses including a Q & A with perfumer Jean-Paul Duriez of the house of Patou.
From that article we excerpt, translate and comment on a quote regarding the new Vanille Galante (Flirtatious Vanilla) to be launched in February 2009...
Continue reading "Article on Vanilla & Preview of Upcoming Hermes Vanille Galante {Fragrance News} {Fragrant Reading} {Scented Thoughts}" »
 A late link to an article published in September 2008 in the Wall Street Journal on current research on the development of air fresheners, the thinking and science behind the venture, "Traditionally, air fresheners have tried to cover bad smells with a
blanket of stronger but more tolerable ones. IFF believes that by
charting the chemical properties of select odors, it can make the fight
more focused. The idea is to assail an offending molecule with a
fragrance--included in a cleaning product, for example, or an air
freshener--that can counter or cover it.(...) Next, an extreme tobacco addiction is heartily sought out, found, and embraced,...
Continue reading "Atypical Research on Air Fresheners {Fragrant Reading}" »
 For those interested in both beauty and perfume, a new bilingual dictionary by Michel Husson entitled Beauty Talk dictionnaire de la parfumerie, de la cosmétologie & des produits de beauté français-anglais/anglais-français and Dictionary of Perfumery, Cosmetology & Beauty Products - English-French/French-English, has come out this month.
Twelve themes are developed, perfume being one of them, alongside with skin, skin and sun, hair, packaging, etc...
Continue reading "Beauty Talk Dictionnaire - Dictionary (2008) {Fragrant Reading - New Book} " »
 The Editions Paja will publish a new book on perfume in October-November 2008 authored by Béatrice Boissière under the artistic direction of Coco Tassel. It is entitled Plaisirs de Parfums (Pleasures of Perfumes) and proposes to retrace a world history of fragrances since the 19th century with attention devoted to the compositions of fragrances and anecdotes on the milieu of perfumers. Long-lost fragrances are also not forgotten...
Continue reading "Plaisirs de Parfums: New Book (2008) {Fragrant Reading}" »
 No gasoline!
I happened on en entry by perfumer Christopher Brosius of CB I Hate Perfume regarding the difficulty of recreating a gasoline perfume. His is a commentary precisely on Kate Moss's desire to capture the alluring (for many as it turns out) scent of gas. This made me remember that a certain number of flowers, like tuberose or jasmine, can naturally have top notes smelling like gasoline. Tubéreuse Criminelle by Serge Lutens developed this naturally-occurring facet for example....
Continue reading "A Gasoline Perfume Is Hard To Create Says Christopher Brosius {Fragrant Reading}" »
 Niche perfume brand Memo founder Clara Molloy is preparing to launch a duo of perfumes for adults and children in September in her Les Echappées collection called Jannat meaning paradise in Urdu and other languages of the Middle East. The grown-up version is an eau de parfum and the kiddie one is a lighter eau fraîche. They were created by perfumer Aliénor Massenet, like the rest of the brand's offerings... 
Continue reading "Memo Jannat For Kids & Grownups (2008) {New Fragrance} - New Book By Clara Molloy {Fragrant Reading}" »
 Fragrance expert Roja Dove has written his first book on the subject of his long-time passion, entitled The Essence of Perfume. While he is known for his lectures and frequent appearances in the media, as well as his temple of bon goût dedicated to the art of perfumery, the Haute Parfumerie at Harrods, he had not felt the need so far to write down his thoughts...
Continue reading "Roja Dove The Esssence of Perfume: New Book {Fragrant Reading} {Shopping Tip}" »
 To me, perfumer Olivia Giacobetti is a little bit like the feminine counterpart to perfumer Jean Claude Ellena. Both are fascinated by the element
water and its smell. Both are obsessed with transparent, diaphanous textures. Both plow their paths in this perfumery direction in a very consistent, deep manner. Both not just do this kind of perfumery but enjoy less ethereal unusual gourmand accords (in fact both seem to love to eat good food). To compare their works more closely would be extremely interesting. The September 2008 issue of the magazine Atmosphères has a 1-page article about perfumer-composer Olivia Giacobetti, who reveals that she " cannot stand not to smell good". In order to be able to perfume herself while respecting the constraint of olfactory neutrality she needs to have for her work, she reportedly just dabs on two drops of a diluted version of IUNX Eau Blanche on her neck so that it has time to evaporate by the time she reaches her lab...
Continue reading "Article About Olivia Giacobetti: IUNX Is Back In Business {Fragrance News} {Fragrant Reading}" »
 Here is a very interesting article by Prof. Kamiel Koelman from the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam which summarizes the position on perfume copyrights in Holland as based on the case of Trésor by Lancôme, which was examined by the courts in 2006. The paper raises a host of philosophical, biological, and legal questions and reveals the complexity of the issue. "The French cosmetics company, Lancôme, sells an exclusive perfume under the name Trésor (Treasure). Kecofa, a small Dutch firm, sells its Female Treasure perfume at a tenth of the price. Lancôme had previously tried to stop Kecofa by invoking its trademark right to the word Trésor,
but failed, because the courts found that consumers were unlikely to
confuse the brands. In 2000, after the Dutch Trademark act was
updated, Lancôme tried again, but this time also claimed infringement
of its copyright in the perfume. The trademark claim failed once more,
but - probably to Lancôme's surprise - the copyright claim succeeded
and was further sanctioned by the Dutch High Court.1 Coincidentally,
just three days before, the French Supreme Court had ruled that a
perfume - Dior's Dune - was not copyrightable. The French court likened
parfumeurs to mere craftsmen, like carpenters or plumbers, rather than
artists, and as such found their works not eligible for copyright
protection.2...
Continue reading "Article about Perfume Imitation & Copyrights: The Dutch Position {Fragrant Reading}" »
 Romano Ricci © Ryan Carter/The National
Romano Ricci, the founder and owner of young fragrance brand Juliette Has A Gun established in 2006, declares that his signature style is classic with a twist. Follows a list of his best addresses for food and clothes in Paris in this very laid-back interview with The National in which he discusses mostly of his tastes and mentions very discreetly at the end his upcoming perfume, Citizen Queen,...
Continue reading "Romano Ricci Gives Out His Good Addresses {Fragrant Reading}" »
 I was a Shoplifter, movie poster from Paxarcana Please read Part 1: Stardust, Part 2: The Hunt, and Part 3: Jargon, if you missed them
Confessions of an Ex-Fragrance Model by Guest Contributor Christina Warinner
Part 4: Special Clients
At our store, we had two very special clients. Both were over sixty, fabulously wealthy, and committed shoplifters. They were distinct, however, in method and manner. The first, Mrs. L, repeatedly returned an empty bottle of Chanel No. 5 parfum, complaining that it smelled terribly. She couldn't wear it, and she would demand a new bottle to replace it. The trouble was that she did wear it, obviously, which is why the bottle was always returned empty. She had a grandiose style, and she'd fling her shawl over her left shoulder for dramatic emphasis as she described its terrible, stale stink to everyone in eavesdropping range. A few pages into the well-worn script at this point, I'd play along, abhorred, and call our store manager, who'd shepherd her into his secluded office. Thirty minutes later she'd emerge, beaming, with a new bottle of Chanel (I think he kept a case in his office). Then he'd discreetly send off a bill to her husband...
Continue reading "Confessions of an Ex-Fragrance Model - Part 4 {Fragrant Reading - Writing}" »
Confessions of an Ex-Fragrance Model by Guest Contributor Christina Warinner
Please read Part 1: Stardust and Part 2: The Hunt, if you've missed them Part 3: JargonThe trouble with the fragrance industry is that most of its jargon is in French. I do not speak French. In school, I studied German, which is pretty much the opposite of French. Thus, putting me in a position to stumble through a menagerie of French fragrance terms on a daily basis was in every sense of the word a massacre. At the end of the day, the French language lie dying and bleeding at my feet, only to be resurrected again the next day for a repeat performance. I got by with a horrid German pronunciation of vowels mixed in with a healthy deletion of random consonants until Champs Elysees became "Shons el-ees-us." Fortunately, working at an expensive new department store in a nouveau riche Midwestern suburb, my clients didn't know the difference and would parrot my ridiculous pronunciations of "grrr-lane oh-duh-noot" and "ives saint low-rent pear-us" with a naïve confidence that matched my own...  Poster for the German version of The Women by George Cukor, Die Frauen, via Rudolf Benda
Continue reading "Confessions of an Ex-Fragrance Model - Part 3 {Fragrant Reading - Writing}" »
 Ever wondered what goes on in the mind of a fragrance model and what happens behind a perfume counter? Christina Warinner tells her story. See Part 1: Stardust, if you've missed it.
Confessions of an Ex-Fragrance Model by guest contributor Christina WarinnerPart 2: The HuntSo, it turns out that "fragrance model" is a euphemism for "predatory perfume pusher." You might think that having annoying women chase you around with fragrance sticks would make you less likely to buy an overpriced bottle of floral extracts, but quite to the contrary. In the fragrance world, the philosophy is that once you catch a whiff of that magical scent you will be unable to resist the purchase. It's the fragrance model's job to track you down and spray. The problem is that our prey knows the ruse and goes to great lengths to avoid capture. The customers were deft and devised all sorts of clever false starts and fake-outs to skirt our counter. The seasoned ones entered and immediately ducked right, into the baby department. From there they could circle around through the children's section, then through scarves and handbags, and eventually emerge victorious behind us at the foot of the elevator. These clever trophy wives were fast and couldn't be caught. They shopped every day and knew the store inside and out. They mocked us with their pouting botox lips and perky silicone breasts as they ascended to the second floor...
Continue reading "Confessions of an Ex-Fragrance Model - Part 2 {Fragrant Reading - Writing}" »
 The Women, 1939, by George Cukor via Nicorama Today, TSS brings to you the first part of a story in four installments, that of one time fragrance model Christina Warinner who is now engaged in vastly different pursuits, doing archaeological work in Central America. In the one year in which she operated as a fragrance model, she managed to make enough of an impact in the industry to be honored as "Stardust's national Employee of the Month for highest sales." Here is her story, unadorned, and delightfully non-PC.
Confessions of an Ex-Fragrance Model by guest contributor Christina Warinner
November 1998:
"Stardust is our newest winter fragrance. It has a warm, rich, floral scent that is perfect for the holiday season."
February 1999:
"Stardust is one of our new spring fragrances. It has a light, clean, fresh scent that is perfect for the upcoming summer months."
Part 1: StardustFor one year in the late 1990s, I was a fragrance model for Parfums Llewellyn at a now defunct department store in Leawood, Kansas, a wealthy suburb of Kansas City. I was a college student at the time and needed a job with minimum hours and maximum pay. At $16.50 an hour and 3-10 flexible hours a week, becoming a fragrance model seemed ideal. Admittedly, it was an odd marriage - I have terrible allergies and I hate perfume. But money was money, and I was willing to suffer - Claritin and tissues in hand - in order to save up for a study abroad program in Belize. In fair disclosure, I had previously worked in the fragrance industry. In high school, I briefly held a holiday job in the Victoria's Secret fragrance department at the local mall, only to be transferred after two days to the lingerie dressing room. Apparently, bloodshot eyes and incessant sneezing were not desired traits in an employee. At least my math skills were put to good use in my new hypoallergenic capacity as a "bra fitter."...
Continue reading "Confessions of an Ex-Fragrance Model - Part 1 {Fragrant Reading - Writing}" »
Madame Figaro interviewed the co-president of Fragonard, Agnès Costa who directs the perfumery together with her sister Françoise. « Je ne suis pas un nez, mais je briefe la personne qui va créer le parfum et pour moi, la personne qui sait quelle fragrance elle cherche est aussi importante que l’artiste chargé de la mettre au point. » "I am not a nose, but I brief the person who will create the perfume and for me, the person who knows what fragrance she [or he] is looking for is as important as the artist who is entrusted with making it happen."
Read more......
The New Straits Times has an interview with Camille Goutal, the co-creator of Annick Goutal perfumes with Isabelle Doyen. “We never test perfume on people, we don’t do a market test. We don’t try to go against the trend, we only create things that we like,” Camille says. [...].....
Continue reading "Interview with Camille Goutal Around Les Orientalistes {Fragrant Reading}" »
Two interviews with two major defining personalities of 20th and 21st century perfumery. Both are French yet their styles and sensibilities differ, some would say diametrally so. On this blog, we might have encouraged people to see a structural contrast between their visions. Serge Lutens and Jean Claude Ellena answer questions on their art to Vogue, in French. We translate one meaningful quote from each Q & A as our Scented Quote(s) of the Day. Interview with Serge Lutens "Comment peut-on savoir si un parfum va durer dans le temps ?
C’est le public qui choisit. Ce qui lui résiste accède à la reconnaissance. Le parfum peut, s’il a des adeptes – je devrais dire des « timbrés » - accéder à quelque chose de plus ou moins légendaire." ~ "How can one know that a perfume will be enduringly popular? - It is the public that chooses. What continues to have its favor comes to be recognized. Perfume can, if it has fans - I should say "addicts" - become more or less of a legend.".....
Continue reading "Interview with Serge Lutens & Jean Claude Ellena by Vogue {Fragrant Reading} {Scented Quotes of the Day}" »
Wallpaper loved the new Un Jardin Après La Mousson by Hermès and took the opportunity of the recent launch to ask in-house perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena some questions about his creative process.....
Continue reading "A Q & A with Jean-Claude Ellena {Fragrant Reading}" »
1921 advert by Sem for Chanel No. 5 - Doesn't it say in a nutshell how ideal this perfume is? It floats in the sky and the élégante is looking up to it. "Mademoiselle Chanel et le parfum no. 5" © ADAGP
There is an interesting dossier on Joyce.fr offering a retrospective of the history of Chanel No. 5. The images are well-worth discovering. As zakuski, we have selected three that we thought were particularly captivating. The top one is the first advert for Chanel no. 5 drawn by Sem in 1921 (see also the Sem candles issued by Maxim's of Paris). The ad with actress Carole Bouquet dated 1997 and photographed by Dominique Issemann is the sexiest we have seen with her....
Carole Bouquet photographed by Dominique Issemann, 1997 © Chanel
Continue reading "Chanel No 5: Retrospective {Fragrant Reading} {Scented Images & Perfume Adverts}" »
We know that many perfumistas will appreciate and savor the fact that an upcoming debut novel by Claudia Guadalupe Martinez bears as title the commonly bandied about disparaging expressions "old lady perfume" and "old lady smell" put together in one neat stroke of the pen. By the way, The Smell of Old Lady Perfume aims a young adult audience. The disturbing smell it refers to is the narrator's grandmother's, a "smell" "worse than Sundays" that will help test her mettle (we know, it can be hard).......
Continue reading "The Smell of Old Lady Perfume (2008) {Fragrant Reading}" »
There is a book that promises to be absolutely fascinating to read for people who pay attention to olfaction and about which I was reminded of by a thoughtful comment from reader Anita about form and function regarding perfume as comparable to architecture in the discussion about Veuillet-Gallot's guide to perfume below.
That book is entitled Invisible Architecture: Experiencing Places Through The Sense of Smell, authored by Anna Barbara and Anthony Perliss and published by Skira. It is on my must-read list, but I thought I might just as well mention it now while I was thinking about it.....
Continue reading "Invisible Architecture: Experiencing Places Through The Sense of Smell {Fragrant Reading}" »
In an interview in French with Cartier in-house perfumer Mathilde Laurent, the "nose" reveals how the process of customization of a perfume goes. The tab is pretty steep at 60 000 €. The perfumer talks about her transfer from Guerlain to Cartier, which she already evoked in previous interviews. She explains how a keen sense of smell is not a gift but the result of training and linked with qualities of intelligence and creativity. Someone can have a very sensitive sense of smell, yet lack creativity for example. And one does not just smell with the nose but with the brain. In brief, it is a refutation of the Grenouille myth whereby a superhuman sense of smell explains the success and inevitability of a perfumer's vocation however warped in that case.....
Continue reading "Mathilde Laurent: Perfume is a Weapon of Seduction {Fragrant Reading} {Scented Quote of the Day}" »
Mimosa is one of the most delicate of floral scents, hard to capture in a fragrance. It is simply intoxicating to inhale its scent in the South of France during the winter mimosa festivals in places like Bormes Les Mimosas.
There is an interesting article about its natural history and local adaptation on the French Riviera, as well as a list of perfumes in which the note appears as a main one or a more secondary one,....
Continue reading "Comprehensive Article on Mimosa {Fragrant Reading}" »
Le guide du parfum pour elle et lui by Rebecca Veuillet-Gallot is a popular, conveniently sized perfume guide first published in 1995 and last reprinted in 2005. One can only assume that most people in France who are seriously interested in perfume (as in the jus ), its descriptions and history own a copy of it or have read it at the library, especially so since its only alternative in French is the review guide by Luca Turin (1992;1994), which is out of print. We wanted to do a review of it because we almost bypassed it in favor of more copious tomes not expecting to find a tremendous amount of information in the rather slim copy. Once we started reading it, we had to realize that underneath its understated character, it is a wonderfully rich little book that one will go back to, finding new details each time depending on the questions you ask yourself.......
Dust jacket
Continue reading "Le Guide du Parfum by Rebecca Veuillet-Gallot: Book Review {Scented Thoughts} {Fragrant Reading}" »
 There is a nice interview with Jean Paul Gaultier in L'Express on the occasion of the launch of his Monsieur line of beauty products, including his first ever - reportedly this is how they present it - Eau de Cologne called Eau du Matin. "Monsieur" was chosen as a name for the line because the French designer believes in the return of Dandysm. Gaultier thinks that ideas about masculine beauty and personal care started to evolve back in the 1970s thanks to the hippies and later rock stars like David Bowie and Boy George.....
Continue reading "Jean Paul Gaultier Interviewed by L'Express on Beauty & Perfume {Fragrant Reading} {Scented Images & Adverts} {What Celebs Like to Wear}" »
The internet medium and the blog medium in particular seem to be a must for perfume writers these days. We learned that fragrance author Annick Le Guérer writes an online column on the blog Le-Luxe.fr entitled "Dans le Brûle-Parfums d'Annick Le Guérer". She also regularly proposes her "Coups de Coeur" regarding perfumes, i.e., the fragrances that she loves......
Continue reading "Annick Le Guérer's Online Column {Fragrant Reading}" »
BYZANCE Magazine by Guest Contributor PaulineShould you want to find some inspiration for adding an Oriental twist to your home, Byzance is the one magazine to read. I had a coup de coeur (fell in love with) as we say in French for this richly illustrated magazine which focuses on the relationships between Orient and Occident in the areas of decoration, interior design and art de vivre or art of fine living. A signature feature of the magazine is that they consecrate an "Inspiration Notebook" to a different color each time. This bi-monthly French-Lebanese magazine was first launched in 2003 by Désirée Sadek and Jean-Pierre Gueirard. It has now an Arabic edition since 2007. Sadek is the Editor in Chief of the ELLE Oriental which was launched in Arabic in 2006.....
Continue reading "Byzance Magazine: Art of Living Between East and West {Cultural Notes} {Fragrant Reading}" »
Eva Pasco is a romance novel author based in Newport, Rhode Island. Her debut novel entitled Underlying Notes is as centered on fragrance as any perfume junkie might hope (although the main character does not consider herself an addict). The book opens on a scene describing the menopause symptoms of Carla who is in her fifties, the first perfume quoted is Spark by Liz Clairborne, and fragrances are immediately presented as psychological aids, " If I lacked girlfriends, I made up for it by acquiring glass goddesses filled with nectar,"......
Continue reading "Underlying Notes by Eva Pasco: A Romance Novel About Perfume + 2 Excerpts {Fragrant Readings}" »
 There is an interesting interview with Francis Kurkdjian in Libération today. Some of the highlights or news we learn are that he has the ambition of creating his own brand in the future, like Karl Lagerfeld or Phillipe Starck.....
Continue reading "Interview with Francis Kurkdjian in Libération {Fragrant Reading}" »
Illusion of Complexity, Carol Alleman, 2001 There is a Q & A with Frederic Malle in the San Francisco Chronicle. Malle describes his work as an editor of perfumes. He is largely responsible for a movement that puts the perfumer center stage and gives him or her the status of author. A perfume for him without doubt can be a piece of art, on a par with a painting by Matisse. Short formulas, like short pieces of writing, are more difficult to achieve because only the essential is expressed. This set of beliefs represents modern ideas that are still debated. Some perfumers do not seem to care about authorship in the sense of it being individualistic and like to stress collaborative efforts; the model of film director or screenplay writer might better apply. Some perfumers will probably still see themselves as sophisticated urban artisans rather than Picassos. There was also a time once when perfumers took pride in creating complex formulas. Joséphine Catapano with Norell comes to mind about which she said "We all knew the formula was long, like a treaty" (note the "we"), as well as Ellena with the 160 ingredients in First (but he has since then evolved to embrace the position that it is a less interesting approach to take). More recently, a German perfume made by Frank Rittler, Steffen Schraut, still boasts "about 120 natural essences"..........
Continue reading "Frederic Malle on Perfume Publishing {Fragrant Reading}" »
As we already said before in our review of Paco Rabanne pour Homme, Cyprès de Rigaud is one of the most popular candles in France. Its scent is very forest-y, balsamic. An article in the Times relates its history and how Jackie Kennedy used to love to use it to scent the White House.......
Continue reading "Cyprès by Rigaud: The Nec Plus Ultra of Scented Candles {Holiday Shopping Ideas & Tips - $75 or Less} {Fragrant Reading}" »
There is a fascinating interview with author Katherine Ashenburg on the history and practices of cleanliness in Salon. Judging by the exchange she seems to retain the theses of classic works of previous researchers on these questions such as Alain Corbin, Georges Vigarello, or Françoise de Bonneville but she also introduces comparative American material for example on the turning point that the Civil War was in the United-States for the discovery of the advantages of cleanliness and its decidedly democratic flavor. She also brings her own personal reflections which are very interesting. The interview and excerpt form her book were so compelling, we immediately went to order a copy of it........
Continue reading "Interview with Katherine Ashenburg: Do You Prefer to Scrape, Change Shirts or Soap? {Fragrant Reading} {Holiday Shopping Ideas - $20 or Less} {Notebook: Fresh & Clean}" »
 Highly recommended read. It is especially illuminating on the kind of balance a great (and successful) creative perfumer attempts to strike between (needed) commercialism and his reflection on art. After discovering Maurice Roucel's perfumes such as Tocade, 24 Faubourg, L'Instant, Insolence, Musc Ravageur and many more you can also discover his sense of humor, earthiness, and intelligence in this interview given to Symrise, "Monsieur Roucel,
Perfumes classically consist of smells from meadows and forests, fruits and flowers, water and wood. But traditional perfumery has moved into the 21st century. What new challenges does this bring to perfumers?That’s not at all true! Since aldehydes were first used in perfumery in the 1920s in Chanel No. 5, perfumes have become much more abstract and are full of ingredients that cannot be found in nature......
Continue reading "Interview with Perfumer Maurice Roucel {Fragrant Reading}" »
German fashion designer Steffen Schraut launched a new, eponymous fragrance for women called Steffen Schraut Eau de Parfum. It was developed by the M M Fragrance group based in Düsseldorf and in particular by nose Frank Rittler. You can read an interview of his here. The perfume boasts a rich floral composition incorporating "about 120 natural essences".......
Continue reading "Steffen Schraut Eau de Parfum by Steffen Schraut {New Perfume} {Fragrant Reading}" »
Three young perfumers from Drom, Pierre Constantin-Guéros, Valérie Garnuch-Mentzel, and Dephine Jelk offer liberal advice on dos and donts to perfume afcionados and attempt to debunk a few myths in passing. Guéros for example advises to overlook the shape of the perfume bottle and says, “You’d be surprised to know that a lot of drugstore perfume companies spend more on the juice,”. He does not believe in the alleged all-transforming power of each individual's body chemistry either, “Unless you eat very spicy food all the time, your body chemistry won’t change a fragrance,” explains Guéros. “That’s a bit of a myth—you’d have to have a trained nose to be able to distinguish how a scent smells differently on two people.”........
Continue reading "Perfume Advice From The Noses: Yay for Drugstore Fragrances & Nay for Body Chemistry {Fragrant Reading} {Scented Thoughts}" »
Michele Hanson abhors the new high-profile doggie perfume trend (see previous post) as well as the kind of art best described by her as "Bleak Art Events I Have Known - the bare stone walls, installations, statements, the odd mattress, pair of tights, penis-nosed mannequins. The chaps who deliberately hadn't explained their works, wanting to be enigmatic - a clever trick if one has created a load of old cobblers." What do they have in common? Apparently they are totally irrelevant....... (Cartoon from humour.com)
Continue reading "Dog Perfumes & Cool Art are So Uncool: A Rant {Fragrant Reading}" »
 No, this is not a Bond No. 9. A neurologist is fascinated by the impact scent has on memory and a family-based enterprise delivers the essence(s) of Brooklyn in a creation called Eau de Brooklyn. People tell how it reminds them of places they have visited, of smaller areas within the neighborhood......
Continue reading "It Smells Like Brooklyn {Fragrant Reading}" »
Photo: Ling Fei/Salons du Palais Royal
"A quoi sert le parfum ? Nous sommes tous fragiles. Le parfum est une arme contre notre fragilité, notre timidité.
Il sert à s'exprimer, à se donner l'image la plus cohérente qu'on aimerait que les autres aient de soi. Séduire, c'est être soi-même et rencontrer les autres.
Sinon, cela peut être utile pour un comportement social. On porte un sac à initiales et un parfum qu'on reconnaît partout. Ainsi, on ne risque pas d'être aimé pour soi-même." Translation & interview after the jump..........
Continue reading "Scented Quote of the Day, from Serge Lutens: - {Fragrant Reading}" »
Mademoiselle de Camargo by Nicolas Lancret (1730) "Le parfum c'est le complément indispensable de la personnalité féminine, c'est le finishing touch d'une robe, c'est la rose dont Lancret signait ses toiles". ~ "Perfume is the indispensable complement to the feminine personality; it is the finishing touch of a dress; it is like the rose that Lancret used to sign his paintings."........
Continue reading "Scented Quote of the Day, from Christian Dior: - 60th Anniversary of Miss Dior {Fragrant Reading}" »
 Need a little relaxation? Here is a *spoof* article about the latest perfume by Britney Spears and the difficulties experienced by the marketing team when attempting to match the image of the perfume with that of the celebrity it is inspired by, "Lars Mitchell, Director of Product Management for Elizabeth Arden, remarked on the difficulty on finding an appropriate name for the perfume. (Perfume bottle is made from recycled prison bars)........
Continue reading "Britney Spears Inspires a Spoof Perfume {Fragrant Reading} {Celebrity Fragrance}" »
Perfumers sometimes set aside their flacons and notebooks full of formulas and quickly jotted-down notes and instead pick up a more literary or theoretical pen deciding to write a book. Writings by seasoned perfumers are amongst some of the most interesting texts to read on perfume. Edmond Roudnitska, Jean Kerléo, Maurice Maurin, and Jean-Claude Ellena are some of the ones in the contemporary period that have felt the need to express themselves on paper as well as in perfumes.......
Continue reading "New Book: Le Parfum by Jean-Claude Ellena, Master Perfumer {Fragrant Reading} {Fragrant Shopping}" »
We owe the Romans the very word of "perfume". To learn more about the classical roots of our perfume heritage we can now read a work by specialist of classical antiquity Susan Stewart who released a book entitled Cosmetics and Perfumes in The Roman World, Tempus, 2007 in February in the UK, and which will soon be available in the US, in principle sometime in September. It is now available for pre-order on Amazon for $23.10.
There is a very interesting interview of Alan Stuart, co-founder of Headonism, a line of organic scented hair care on newconsumer.com, "The UK's hottest ethical lifestyle magazine." The fragrances are so good a French perfumer could not believe his nose when he caught the aroma of Scent 2 and was told it was coming from a shampoo and not from a fragrance.....
Continue reading "Scent 1, 2 & 3 by Headonism - Organic Hair Care Shampoo {Fragrance News} {Hair} {Fragrant Reading}" »
Beauty Interviews has a piece with Lyn Harris, the founder and perfumer of Miller Harris. How do you source the ingredients for Miller Harris perfumes?
I only use the finest quality raw ingredients. I take pride in carefully selecting my materials from different regions and with my chemicals, again, I have my favourites, which I obtain through certain suppliers whom I favour. As I defined and refined my style, I have found that I am far more selective of the chemicals I work with. I have now got to a stage in my creativity where I am happy to limit myself to around 300 out of thousands and thousands available in perfumery. This is important in defining my style as a perfumer. I am confident about limiting my vocabulary in terms of these materials. However, the opposite is true of natural ingredients. I try and discover new naturals – I don’t like to be limited in that respect.
Read more..... You can read our reviews of Miller Harris Fleurs de Sel and Coeur d'Eté
Thanks to a member of Basenotes, we came across a wonderful humorous text by perfumer Guy Robert, which had us in stitches. His reflections are excerpted from the newsletter of the British Society of Perfumers of August 1998: The serious part: My most important quest was to define which are the essential "building blocks" giving its character to the most important perfumes, and which are the numerous and useless components we usually "pile up" in a formula.
Being humorous about the difficult work of the perfumer: "There are also several other ways to work:
- the lazy way : you take a classical "accord" : to work around it is easy. But the result may not be as original as the hundreds of recent creations lately appearing on the market ...
- Another way (unfortunately!) is to take the idea of a friend (preferably a dead friend).
You are there, facing two different cases :
If you are a well known and very successful perfumer, everybody will find your creation "so" original. And if somebody with too good a nose or a too precise memory complains, you could always quote our French poet Alfred de Musset who, accused to have imitated your poet Byron said
"even growing cauliflowers is imitating somebody!".......
Continue reading "Guy Robert's Thoughts On Perfumery {Fragrant Reading}" »
 Jean-Claude Bulins has been making the famous Diptyque candles for nearly 20 years. Journalist Catherine Saint-Jean invites us on a tour of the candle factory located in Argenteuil. Diptyque candles are usually produced in batches of 1250 units, except for some bestsellers like their new Maquis (2500) or some of their classics like Figuier and Baies (each produced in batches of 5000 copies). We learn that due to the high amount of natural oils used in the candles, each new scent needs to have a specific wax formula designed to accommodate the physical properties of the perfume mix and it does not always work, like for Musc. Read more in Madame Figaro.....
 Perfume critic Luca Turin writes a monthly column in NZZ Folio. This time he turns his attention to Etat Libre d'Orange and gives it two thumbs up. His favorite from the line or at least the one he thinks is the most interesting? The controversial Sécrétions Magnifiques.
The masterpiece is, in my opinion, Lie’s Sécrétions Magnifiques, helpfully illustrated on the website by a schoolboy drawing of an ejaculating penis. What he has done is revolutionary: he has used a nitrile as a main note in a fine fragrance. In plain language, he has put a loud note of harbor bilge in an elegant floral and made it fly.
Read more..... Photo from magrini.net
 Publisher Assouline is offering a luxury edition of one of its bestselling books (it is sold out on their site), Chanel, a set of three volumes each dedicated to a different area of Chanel's creative life. The set includes books on fashion, jewelry, and perfume.
"Inspired by the classic Chanel bag and made at the couture house's Parisian atelier, this quilted slipcase contains a limited edition boxed set of Chanel books profiling three important components of the historic company of Madame Gabrielle Chanel: fahion, jewelry and perfume. Each book numbers 80 pages and measures 6 x 8½"."
It retails for $550 on Vivre.
Author and journalist Denyse Beaulieu has a new book out entitled Sex Game Book: A Cultural History of Sexuality (Assouline, 2007), which purports to take readers on a playful and very informative journey through the centuries, cultures, and images with just one idea in mind: Sex! With a capital S. You can indulge in your obsessions and find many answers to your most private questions. The book is like a very pink and brothel-red encyclopedia that is superbly illustrated. We just bought a copy and we will review it together with an interview with its author Denyse Beaulieu who happens to be very much into perfumes. It is hard to dissociate sexuality and fragrances as we all know so we will ask her what she thinks about the relationship, how she would define a perfume that is sexual, and what particularly sexy perfume recommendations she has for our readers........
Continue reading "New Book: Sex Game Book by Denyse Beaulieu {Fragrant Reading} " »
Vogue Magazine, Sephora, and the BNF (Bibliothèque Nationale de France/French National Library) have partnered up to organize an exhibition called Vogue en Beauté on fashion photography that includes a hundred works by the likes of Man Ray, Guy Bourdin, Helmut Newton, Peter Lindbergh, Mario Testino. It covers the period from 1920 to 2007......
Continue reading "Vogue en Beauté: Exhibition & Book by Georges Vigarello {Scented Paths & Fragrant Addresses} {Fragrant Reading}" »
Duo of authors Luigi Cristiano and Gianni De Martino have written a book entitled Viaggi e Profumi (Urra, 2007) (Travels and Perfumes). It is a descriptive and sensualist travelogue through space and even time in quest of iconic natural essences produced in specific world-renowned locales. Gianni De Martino is a writer and journalist from Milan who has written another book about the fifth sense entitled Odori: entrate in contato con il quinto senso......
Continue reading "Viaggi e Profumi by Luigi Cristiano & Gianni de Martino {Fragrant Reading} {Fragrant Shopping}" »
For your reading convenience I am posting the links to three articles I wrote last year about some of the best summer fragrances under the sun. Since then, new perfumes have their way into my mental list of such carefree delightful companions, although I must say that deep down I think you can wear any fragrance that you wish at any time of the year. But still, some summery criteria might not be completely irrelevant. At any rate, lists of perfume suggestions are fun to read and to play with and so I have dug out the articles from the bowels of the blog:.......
Continue reading "Best Summer Fragrances in 3 Parts {Fragrant Readings}" »
 • Camille Goutal of Parfums Annick Goutal has announced that they have a series of three new perfumes in the making. The scents are slated to launch in the fall of 2007 and are created by Isabelle Doyen and Camille Goutal. Read the interview of Camille Goutal (in French) in L'Express......
Continue reading "News Flash: Upcoming Annick Goutal & Lorenzo Villoresi Perfumes {The 5th Sense in the News}" »
 There is a short interview (in French) of nose Philippe Bousseton of Takasago in Au Féminin. He answers questions about perfume trends this spring. Conclusion? The florals are back! His favorite perfume? Magie Noire de Lancôme. For more, please read on: Interview de Philippe Bousseton The interview is part of a dossier on spring perfumes 2007.
Perfumer Christopher Brosius of CB I Hate Perfume has a book coming out, which bears the title Scent: Mysteries of Perfume and The Smell of Happiness. The author is widely known for his work as a realistic and psychological perfumer. He was the founder of the Demeter line of perfumes, which offers a library of scents based on the search of simple yet unusual olfactory facets of our world once seen bottled, from Between The Sheets to Dirt to Wet Garden and Sushi.......
Continue reading "A New Book On Perfume By Christopher Brosius {Fragrant Reading} {Fragrant Shopping} {Scented Quote of the Day}" »
Yaffa Assouline asks: What is perfume to you? Serge Lutens: One doesn't make perfume uniquely from raw materials. A perfume is a composition of the mind, it's a personal experience, unexpected. It's not created in accord with society - it should be something that expresses a different view......
Continue reading "Scented Quote of the Day, From Serge Lutens & {Fragrant Readings} Interviews of Serge Lutens, Mathilde Laurent, & Dennis Papithis" »
Check out Tony Burfield's very interesting column about the state of today's perfumery. "In fact, the art of perfumery could now be declared dead at this point, to be replaced by an expensive piece of computer software." Perfumers and the 40th IFRA Amendment on Basenotes.
 Osmoz has a very interesting series of interviews of some of the new generation of perfume designers. They have interviewed Le Labo, Céline Ellena, Juliette Has A Gun, Aurélien Guichard, Stéphanie de Saint Aignan, Etat Libre d'Orange, Marie Salamagne, and Frank Völkl. Who's Next?
 Mario Girard has an article on vetiver perfumes, their history, and the use of the different types of vetivers in perfumery with comments by perfumer Nathalie Lorson who recently created Encre Noire by Lalique. Parfums: Fou de Vétiver He also interviews Guerlain Fragrances artistic director Sylvaine Delacourte La femme derrière les parfums Guerlain Source: La Presse via Cyberpresse
 The Washington Post has published an article about the details of the creation or rather re-creation of M.A. Sillage de la Reine (please see my review of the fragrance), the perfume of Marie Antoinette, by Francis Kukrdjian, an enterprise conducted together with historian Elisabeth de Feydeau:
"When Francis Kurkdjian, one of France's premier perfumers, set out to re-create a fragrance of Marie Antoinette, his greatest fear was that it would stink. After all, he reasoned, the 21st-century nose might have little tolerance for the potent potions that the famous queen and her royal court used to mask the smells of their opulent but odiferous 18th-century environs at the Chateau de Versailles..... I just wanted to point out that although the article lays stress on the idea that Marie Antoinette wore heavy perfumes, she is also often credited for introducing a fashion for light or perhaps, if we were to be cautious, lighter floral perfumes given the cultural context of that time. Also, Marie Antoinette did not introduce bathrooms at Versailles. Louis XIV had already one built in 1665 although he preferred to use cologne rather than water to clean himself. Traces of Marie Antoinette, Caught in a Phial of Perfume Photo: Jean-Marc Manai
J'Adore J'Adore -- An Article by Melanie Adrian Growing into a new scent was much like changing favourite colors or genres of music. Although a seemingly insignificant adjustment not perceptible to most, for me, the change in perfume marked an important shift in life.
I was in Paris, of all places, and happened by a Sephora store when I encountered The Scent. Quite an accident of fate, I happened to smell j’adore as I was generally perusing perfumes. Not because of the allure of the bottle – which still doesn’t seem like the most ingenious design idea (and is wholly unpractical for the traveler with its long neck whose top constantly comes off). It was the scent, pure and simple, that lured me: the strength of the floral without the lurid sweetness of the petals and its magnificent undertone, only darkening with time, that gives it both its independence and rebelliousness, strength and spontaneity.....
Continue reading "My Holy Grail Scent: J'Adore by Dior - An Article by Melanie Adrian {Fragrant Reading}" »
 Fragrances of the World/Parfums du Monde 2007 by Michael Edwards is out this month. This reference book is published annually; in this 23rd edition, Edwards undertakes a "preliminary analysis of the 2006 launches, compared to 2005 and 1996." Perfume launches have steadily increased since 1996; if there were 205 new fragrances in 1996, there were 545 new ones in 2005 and 693 in 2006. Niche fragrances, celebrity fragrances, limited editions, and flankers are categories in which more launches took place. Feminine fragrances are still vastly dominant, 451 launches against 190 masculine fragrances and 90 unisex ones.
You can purchase it here: Fragrances of the World 2007 Sources: The Moodie Report , Amazon
The blog Blather - Rinse - Repeat has a new line of scented candles to offer: New Scented Candles From Blather - Rinse - Repeat
 Two new publications on perfumes are now available.The first one called Le Printemps de Guerlain is by author Maryline Desbiolles and is also available in an English version called Spring at Guerlain.....
Continue reading "Le Printemps de Guerlain by Maryline Desbiolles & Des Epices Au Parfum by Brigitte Bourgny-Romagne {Fragrant Readings}" »
 Following the controversy over the advertising use of the smell of freshly baked cookies in five bus-shelters in San Francisco, John Brownlee from the Table of Malcontents reacts by showing the (relative) popularity of Smell-O-Vision in US history....
Continue reading "A Brief History of Smell-O-Vision, Smell & Advertisement {Fragrant Readings}" »
 There is a GREAT interview of Tom Tykwer by film critic Michael Guillen that was published both on his blog, The Evening Class, and on Twitch. To stay on topic (just kidding), here's an excerpt from the interview (translated from the German) where Tykwer offers his reaction on the Thierry Mugler coffret: "MG: Do they [the perfumes from the Thierry Mugler coffret] remind you of your film?
Tykwer: It's amazing. It's amazing stuff. It's really very daring. It's completely confusing and actually quite disturbing because it goes through 15 individual scents that relate to, whatever, like Paris streets 1738, fish markets, "Orgy" one's called, and they're not nice. That's an important thing, you know. If you smell Paris street in 1738, it's a nightmare. But what's amazing about it is it's really multifaceted and very complex smells of rotten elements, sweat, I don't know what, really disturbing. And for instance "Orgy" really smells quite strange, but it definitely smells sexual, and it definitely smells like human bodies and sexual hormones and I don't know how they captured it. They're very experimental about it. They've done some really new experiments [in] how to capture scent. Some are beautiful of course but most of them are more disturbing. You can read the rest of the interview on The Evening Class.
Continue reading "Interview of Tom Tykwer by Michael Guillen {Fragrant Reading}" »
 Jean Claude Ellena wrote a short olfactory tale some years ago describing his impressions at Christmas. Au Féminin has reprinted it....
Continue reading "A Christmas Olfactory Tale by Jean Claude Ellena {Fragrant Reading}" »
 If you ever wondered what is the best way to apply perfume onto your skin please go read my response to Gretchen on the Beauty Hatchery as well as those of other writers....
Continue reading "To Rub or Not to Rub: I Say Spray {Fragrant Reading}" »
 Notcot, one of my favorite design catalogues, ran a piece recently about a Smelling Committee that was set up in 1891 to investigate the olfactory identity of Brooklyn. This makes for a delightful and interesting read. Article is by Caitlin Berrigan and tells us also about the recent reenactment of that initial experience which took place, anew in the Brooklyn neighborhoods, in September 2006...
Continue reading "Fragrant Reading: The Smelling Committee of 1891" »
To celebrate its 80th anniversary, the French perfume house Fragonard is re-editing Billet Doux, a fragrance first introduced in the 1950s. The fragrance house originally from Grasse in the south of France also opened a new boutique in Paris, rue du Faubourd-Saint-Honoré in mid-July; it plans to open another store at the Carroussel du Louvre in December 2006. A book retracing the history of Fragonard is also being published to commemorate their anniversary. You can read more about the history of the Fragonard house in the following article from Les Echos of 9 August 2006: Fragonard se donne un parfum de modernité
 How a niche perfume was created and the story of its downfall and renaissance -- Peggy Dean decided one day to create a fragrance and along the way wrote a book describing her experience including the many road-blocks encountered on her path. Sarbez in eau de parfum and parfum was launched last spring. It is described as a "...a creation of bergamot, lavender and nuances of tropical modern twists. The body of the fragrance consists of rich notes of ylang-ylang and jasmine with hints of fresh floral rose. The lasting scent is a resinous accord of sweet vanilla and Tonka beans surrounded by precious woods of patchouli..."
Continue reading "New Perfume & Fragrant Reading: Sarbez by Sarbez & SARBEZ The Renaissance of a Fragrance" »
If you don't have enough time to read through The Scented Salamander's archives, I would recommend that you read the following articles as being two of the most popular. The first one, My National Parfum deals with nationalism, politics, and perfume, the other is a review of the latest perfume by Bond no 9, Fire Island. Both articles by Mimi Froufrou have been recenty featured on the online fashion community's blog Coutorture. Anya from Anya's Garden of Natural Perfumery also featured the article on nationalism and perfume on Perfume of Life. The beauty blog, Are You A Beauty?, is also featuring the Fire Island Review which Ivy enjoyed very much. You can read her presentation and visit her blog as well here.
Finally, this has already been said but it doesn't hurt to restate it, fashion journalist Kristopher Dukes "ooh la loved" the review of Fire Island as well and featured it on This Next Blog. All these sites are great resources for your beauty and perfume needs by the way. Photo of cheering Steelers' fans from the LA Times from a suggestion by Mr. Froufrou.
 There is an article on sculptor and scent artist Nobi Shioya a.k.a Sacre Nobi by Chandler Burr in V of summer 2006. The article is downloadable in pdf format here.
Nobi Shioya is also the originator of the project Made by Blog which chronicles the creations of two perfumes thus bringing into the open a process that is usually shrouded in secrecy. Altar Boys in Water, 1995 Image source: www.artnet.com
Vogue Italy has a short interview of Lyn Harris the founder and nose of Miller Harris on the occasion of the release of her latest creation, Coeur d'Eté. I have reviewed the perfume here. We learn among other things that the perfumer is currently working on a fragrance that evokes Brittany and is based on the aromas of this region. She describes it as embodying the memory of a vacation spent there. Source: Vogue Italy
 •Biba published a picture of the upcoming Mandarine Mandarin.
•Chypre Rouge is now available at the Salons du Palais Royal. It will be available in the United-States in mid-August at Barney's. Aedes will have it too sometime between mid-August and the end of August.
•There is a 6-page interview of Serge Lutens in the French art magazine L'oeil of July-August 2006. See newly added review of Chypre Rouge Sources: Autour de Serge and Salons Shiseido.
The June issue of Marie France has a fun article on perfumes. Different fragrances are recommended for wearing depending on the hour of the day. Hope you can find a copy at your local newspapers dealer to peruse. It is also possible to get an annual subscription to the French magazine for $63.39 through Amazon.com. Subscription to Marie France on Amazon.com
This is an article that was published in the Sunday Times of 4 June 2006 about a new make-up line introduced by Serge Lutens. Beauty according to Lutens:
Line of Beauty
 This is a review of the French edition of A Scented Palace by Elisabeth de Feydeau. In French it bears the title, Jean-Louis Fargeon, parfumeur de Marie-Antoinette (éditions Perrin & Le Château de Versailles, 2004, 230 pages). It was published in the collection "Les Métiers de Versailles" which showcases such little-known yet critical personalities as the gardener of Louis XV and the wet-nurse of Louis XV. The English edition will be available in the United States on June 22. It can be pre-ordered now on Amazon.
The book retraces the biographical intinerary of Jean-Louis Fargeon, the scion of a dynasty of perfumers, from the time of his birth until his final escape from the guillotine. Elisabeth de Feydeau follows his career and professional relationship with Marie-Antoinette and leaves him on the day of his release from a revolutionary prison on 27 July 1794 (9 Thermidor an II), the day that marked the end of the reign of Terror with the arrest of Robespierre. He dies twelve years later, in 1806, still a successful perfumer and a fragrance supplier, amongst others, of Joséphine de Bauharnais, the wife of Napoleon...
Continue reading "Fragrant Reading: Book Review of A Scented Palace by Elisabeth de Feydeau: The Intertwined Destinies of Marie-Antoinette & Her Perfumer, Jean-Louis Fargeon" »
 There is a terrific article on perfumes and the perfume industry by Geraldine Bendell in The Observer, Sunday, December 19, 2004:
|
|
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=acc5158d-a637-49d2-a923-1ee71b3aa037)
Digg This
Stumble
Facebook
Del.icio.us
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=1cbad3d4-5526-47da-998f-95917d83e5ef)
